Sitting at work, and my phone buzzes, I pick my phone up and it’s a text from a friend…

‘Want to go skiing? ‘

‘Yes yes.. where, When and who’s in?’

Christina, have you ever skied before? ‘

‘No, but I already paid for my flight!’

 

So, what do you do when you commit to a skiing holiday with zero idea, and zero knowledge in skiing! You call Daniel Crawford and you book lessons at Chel-ski!!

 

 

In the heart of Fulham, lies the largest ski centre in London, as you step through the doors, you find yourself transported into a ski cabin. Chel-ski is specialised in skiing and snowboarding training. How? Think a treadmill, a very large scale tilted treadmill, which imitates a snow slope. The speed changes according to your abilities. This slope will become your training grounds, it is where you are going to fall, sweat, fall again and finally learn some amazing skills that will save your ass when you get to the real mountains.

 

 

I didn’t have much time to train, but I needed to get as much training in as I could, so settled for three classes before my holiday, with zero prior knowledge! These training sessions are not age specific. My instructor said he taught a 3 year old but also trained an 85 year old, so I didn’t feel so terrible being 26 and watching the 12 year old kid in the lesson before me ski down the slope like a boss.

 

 

Lesson One: Plough baby Plough!

 

Shoes on, skis on and we are ready to go! I was full of false confidence and high expectations, until the large ski treadmill started moving, and all of a sudden I felt like one of these YouTube videos when a puppy walks on snow for the first time. I was wobbly, I was scared and images of me as a 26 year old skiing down the kids slow slope started flashing through my head. PLOUGHHHH CHRISTINA PLOUGHHH! Daniel’s voice starts to ring in my ears, and I go back to game! The huge mirror reflects everything you do, and as you start to understand the muscles that you are supposed to use, and the way your body must look, you start to feel joy. The mirror is even better when you start to actually see improvements. The music in the background helps with the frustrations of learning a new skill, and the support of the instructors helps your scratched ego, especially after falling.

 

 

Learning how to stop is going to be what saves you from snowploughing head first into the snow, and by the time my first lesson was over I WAS HOOKED! There was something exhilarating about learning a new skill, I had forgotten what is feels like, that obsession. I walked home that day, remembering every moment of my lesson, analysing every move, remembering every mistake and following them by the advice that I was given.

 

 

Lesson Two: ‘Your ass is weak!’

 

Lesson two, Today I came with all the determination, spent the morning watching YouTube videos of people doing skiing tricks

‘Are we dong a backflip today?’

‘ No, Christina, not quite yet!’

 

As your skills get better, progress becomes a bit harder to see, so don’t be disheartened. The aim for this lesson was to start strengthening my knees and learning how to ski left to right ‘plough’ while slowly starting to straighten my skis. My target was to reach parallel positioned skis! My head knew what to do, but sadly my legs weren’t planning on doing it! Shoulders, facing front and legs facing the other way.

 

 

When you learn how painful it is to fall once, you become a bit less afraid of it (until all the bruises start to appear), this actually helps with the ‘fear factor’. Suddenly, you lose a bit of the fear, and you start focusing purely on your targets for that particular lesson. Nothing feels better than seeing the checklist of skills get ticked off.

 

 

Lesson 3:  ‘ Remember to breathe’

 

I was waiting for the tube on the platform, and couldn’t help but start doing one leg squats, people were staring but I really didn’t care, hahah today was my last class before my holiday, my legs were a tiny bit sore from the gym, and there was no way in hell I was wasting the last hour not improving.

As I walked through the doors, I felt a bit calmer, 90’s music was blasting, the energy was positive as usually, and as I slipped into my ski boots, and hit the slope, I felt calm, and my muscle memory took over. This time, my challenge was to change my body posture, and brave tilting my body forward (even though its completely unintuitive). Consistency, balance and stability were the highlights of the class, each aim as difficult to hit but equally important.

 

 

When was the last time you tried a new skill? Or brushed up on old skills? Daniel mentioned that many of his clients come back for more lessons even after their ski holiday. It is quite important to keep your skills brushed up, and keep adding more to your skills (again think how not to break your head on the slopes). I am probably going to book a day of ski school when I get there, as I am assuming that my friends might feel awkward standing with all the parents looking at their kids sliding down the children’s slope. I can’t imagine how much I also learnt in these classes. arming myself with the basics before packing my suitcase has made me even more exited about going skiing and less worried for my life.

 

 

 

The energy at Chel-ski is amazing, the trainers are kind, supportive and incredibly experienced. I don’t only feel more confident with my basic knowledge but also enjoyed time out of my hectic day. Wish me luck on my ski adventures go 😊